Opinion: Hostile Alien Invaders Are Unlikely

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Sorry Stephen Hawking, I agree with Jill Tarter. Hostile alien invaders are unlikely–at least not the kind envisioned in SciFi movies. I received the news release reproduced below and it reminded me of a book manuscript that I now have under consideration at a major publisher of books for young readers. That manuscript looks ahead … Read more

Pioneer Anomaly is no longer anomalous

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Thanks to funding from the Planetary Society, of which I am a proud member, the “Pioneer Anomaly” has been definitively resolved. Physics has prevailed over speculation. Over the past 20 years, some people, including a few scientists, have looked at oddities in the trajectories of the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft and proposed that our … Read more

Subtle and not so subtle biases shape assessment of Fukushima

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As readers of this blog may have figured out, I like to discuss political issues related to science and technology. Although I am personally a bit to the left of the American center, my ideology, if I have one, is that evidence trumps ideology every time. Perhaps the best description, given my willingness to state … Read more

Great book about worms reissued in time for spring gardening

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Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill has just reissued a book that may give readers a not unwelcome taste for worms. Here is my review of the book from 2004. The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $12.95, 240 pages, reissued April, 2012) Review by Dr. … Read more

Should we call the Fukushima meltdowns a nuclear disaster?

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A year ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima meltdowns, I prepared a proposal for a middle grade book called “Lessons from Fukushima: The Promise and Risks of Nuclear Power.” My editor at Twenty-First Century Books accepted it, and put it on the fast track, but wanted a more marketable title. The result was … Read more

More on Pioneer Anomaly

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This new information makes it pretty clear that the cause of the Pioneer Anomaly, that is the deviation of the Pioneer spacecraft from the trajectories dictated by gravity alone, is due to thermal sources internal to the spacecraft. A satisfying result, though it produces no new physics.

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